Exciting Online Professional Development Course for Teachers and College Instructor

The Stavros Center for Economic Education of Florida State University offers a cutting-edge, online professional development course in economics and personal finance. Developed by a team of master economic educators, this course is designed for economics, social studies, history and personal finance instructors who would like to learn more about economics, how to teach it more effectively, and have access to engaging materials to achieve these objectives. This 17 module course is understandable, easy to navigate, and focuses on what both teachers and their students really need to know about economics and personal finance. It will be taught by seasoned online instructors. Moreover, if you want to learn more about online teaching and the effective use of multimedia technology to excite students about learning economics, this course is for you. It can be adopted by you!

The course pairs the economics primer Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know about Wealth and Prosperity (St. Martin’s Press, 2016) with short video clips, classic readings, podcasts, and innovative homework assignments. The “read, watch, listen, and do” approach is used to make learning both easy and fun. The reading assignments are compact and the videos, podcasts, and assignments re-enforce each other in a manner that assures mastery of the learning objectives. Even if you have never taken an online course before, you will find this one exciting and informative.

This course is open to all teachers and there are no prerequisites. Equivalent to a 3-hour college credit course, we estimate that it will take students approximately 8 to 12 hours per week to complete the assignments and examinations. The course is aligned with the national standards for economics and personal finance. Put simply, this course is for teachers who want to learn a lot about economics and practical personal finance quickly.

The fall course will begin on September 12th and conclude December 5th, 2016; and the spring course will run January 23rd through May 8th, 2017. Participants will be able to complete everything online. On successful completion, participants will receive a letter of completion from the Florida State Stavros Center, documenting performance and detailing concepts and topics covered.

The required textbook is Common Sense Economics (2016) by Gwartney, Stroup, Lee, Ferrarini, and Calhoun. It can be purchased online using the ISBN: 978-1-250-10694-0 and delivered by June 14 at Barnes & Noble for less than $20 per book plus shipping and handling. The second edition, Common Sense Economics (2010), can be purchased online using the ISBN: 978-0-312-64489-5. It is available in hardback at Barnes & Noble for less than $17 or in electronic form for about $10.99. Changes are significant. Use with caution. You may register below or,if you would like to receive more information, contact the Stavros Center Director, James Gwartney at jdgwartney@fsu.edu, Tawni Ferrarini at tferrari@nmu.edu or Joseph Calhoun at jcalhoun@fsu.edu.

How to find out how to offer this professional development course for economics instructors:

After customizing the professional development needs of your school, college, or school district, we will send an email to finalize the account creation process and to create a password. The email address you submit during the course registration process will become your username to Canvas and the address to which all future course correspondence will be sent. Please submit an email address you plan to regularly use.

If you are interested in professional development credit, we will be happy to work with you to supply needed documentation. For teachers interested in receiving graduate credit for their work, we can offer you options.

On completion of an “Common Sense Economics for Educators’ Course” at Florida State University, you will have:

Finished an economics course divided into four parts – The Twelve Key Elements of Economics; The Seven Major Sources of Economic Prosperity; Ten Elements of Clear Thinking about Economic Progress and The Role of Government; and Ten Elements of Practical Personal Finance and covers 59 Key Economic and Personal Finance Concepts and Topics.

Earned a certification of completion issued by the Stavros Center of Economic Education at Florida State University if you earn 800 points or higher. Note, this economics course is equivalent to a three-hour college-level course or eighty hours of professional development time.